Court awards city tycoon KSh 859 million after state demolished his palatial home

- Billionaire Mike Maina Kamau's mansion was demolished in 2010 by the then roads minister Franklin Bett to pave way for a road construction

- The tycoon moved to court seeking compensation over the demolition and in 2017, he was awarded KSh 711 million

- However, the state appealed the ruling but there were no orders given to stop execution of the earlier compensation

- Maina moved to court seeking speedy compensation and accrued interests since 2017 which saw him being awarded KSh 859 million

Nairobi tycoon Mike Maina Kamau is now KSh 859 million richer after a court awarded him the money as compensation for his palatial home that was demolished by the government in 2010 to pave way for a road.

Justice John Mativo directed the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure as well as the attorney-general to ensure the billionaire was paid the millions.

According to the Daily Nation, the court awarded Maina KSh 847,277,351 for the demolished property and KSh 12,259,342 as the cost of the case.

The billionaire who owns Marble Arch Hotel in Nairobi moved to court after bulldozers brought down his eight-bedroom mansion that he had built at Spring Valley to pave way for Waiyaki Way-Redhill link road.

In December 2017, the court had awarded Maina KSh 711 million but the money was never been paid.

He moved to court seeking for court action to have a speedy payment including interest for the delayed settlement.

Paul Maringa, the Principal Secretary for Infrastructure, opposed Maina's application on grounds that the government had appealed the decision and that taxpayers would be prejudiced if the payment was made before the appeal was determined.

The state opposed the payment on grounds that part of the parcel of land where the house was built was a road reserve that had been acquired by government in the 1970s.

Maringa told the court the appeal had high chances of success and that the compensation should have been frozen until the matter was determined.

However, Justice Mativo ruled that the appeal did not stop execution of the earlier orders given there were no orders issued by the appellate court to freeze the compensation.

“It is a known principle of law that an appeal of a judgement by the unsuccessful litigant does not prevent the successful party executing the judgement immediately,

“Ideally, the unsuccessful party should apply for a stay of execution after judgement is delivered from the court issuing the decree and if unsuccessful from the court to which the appeal is preferred,” said Mativo.

In his court documents, Maina said he acquired the land in 2007 at KSh 80 million and had spent KSh 299 million to build the house but had not moved in.

The mansion was brought down in a major demolition exercise that was led by the then Roads Minister Franklin Bett and senior ministry officials.

Maina has had many squabbles with Nairobi city county administration over his Kayole land where he at one time evicted the residents.